Mallory Shelbourne – May 23, 2025 1:44 PM
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar early this morning as it headed home following an eight-month deployment.
Truman is westbound in the Atlantic Ocean, a Navy official confirmed to USNI News Friday. The carrier transited the strait at around 1:45 a.m. local time, according to a ship spotter.
Truman briefly participated in the NATO Neptune Strike drills as it sailed through the Mediterranean Sea this week. The carrier transited the Suez Canal on Saturday.
The Nimitz-class carrier, which left its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk in mid-September, operated in the Red Sea for much of its deployment as the Yemen-based Houthis continued targeting both military and commercial shipping.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth extended the carrier’s deployment several times due to Operation Rough Rider, the Trump administration’s renewed campaign to degrade the Houthis’ drone and missile capabilities used to attack commercial and military shipping. That campaign, which included Truman‘s F/A-18 Super Hornets conducting strikes, has been on pause since early May.
Truman lost three F/A-18 Super Hornets during this deployment and collided with a merchant ship near near Port Said, Egypt, in February. The Navy relieved the carrier’s commanding officer due to the collision and brought Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill, the CO of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) during its most recent deployment to the Middle East, as a replacement. No sailors were killed in any of the Super Hornet losses nor in the collision.
The carrier operated in the North Sea for NATO drills at the beginning of its deployment before sailing to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
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